If China’s Criminal Code could contain only one crime, some Chinese judges, lawyers, and legal scholars say that the crime they would keep is “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” or 寻衅滋事. Luo Jiajun writes that it is no exaggeration to say that this charge could be brought against almost anyone living in China today.
Taiwan’s Citizen Judges Act: Part I
In 2020, after years of advocacy by judicial reformers, Taiwan’s legislature passed the Citizen Judges Act, providing for professional judges to share their benches - and their power - with lay judges in a relatively small subset of criminal cases. The law takes effect January 2023. USALI Perspectives invited six experts in Taiwan’s judicial system to unpack the practical challenges and potential larger significance of this seemingly small step.